Eco-tourism - Musambwa Island in Rakai District

Musambwa Island in Lake Victoria - Rakai District, consists of three tiny Islands with the largest being 5 hectares and the smallest 100 sq meters. The Islands have recently gained a name as the breeding ground for an enormous population of Grey-headed Gull, Greater Cormorant, Long-tailed Cormorant and the little Egret. This has qualified the Islands as an Important Bird Area (IBA) in Africa because those birds have got a global significance. The Islands have got a big number of different snake species which have over time learnt to live with the local community without harming them.

The Islands have attracted great funding from UNDP/GEF SGP so as to boost its eco-tourism potential. NATURE UGANDA, a conservation organisation, has managed to secure funds from Donors and even influenced the District Local Government Council to pass ordinances protecting the Islands as an Eco-Tourist site. With an experience of 8 years’ involvement in Musambwa Islands, Nature Uganda has done a lot of sensitization of the community on the Islands. The Islands together with the Sango Bay and Kagera river system have been designated as a Ramsar Site.

As you sail southwest you will be able to access Kansensero Landing Site. At this place is the point at which River Kagera joins Lake Victoria - literary River Nile enters Lake Victoria from southwest as far as Rwanda. At the same point is where the dead bodies of Rwanda genocide would be deposited by the river current. Kansensero Landing Site is the place where the first HIV/AIDS victim was identified. A nature walk around this place will lead you to the Kagera River meanders and oxbow lakes and the genocide memorial ground. Further south of the river is the Maramagambo rainforest. Here you may be able to see buffaloes, kobs, baboons, various monkey species and hippos in the river. Elephants in this place are seasonal. South of the river the Buganda King’s palace at a place called Lukunyu stands near a big cave where the first European Missionaries first established a church. Enjoy spot fishing at Lukunyu. A community walk will associate you with the local Bantu tribe called Baziba who are so good to visitors and willing to organise a cultural dance at short notice.

From there, you can drive to the border town of Mutukula en route making a stop-over at Kakuuto for a visit to a campsite with ostriches and camels. At the campsite local dishes and cultural entertainment can be organised for you. If time is still available, a visit to Kamuswaga’s palace and the depositional Lake Kijjanebarora at Rakai District Headquarters are worth a visit.